Remarkable Women winner Brenda Robinson shares life lessons as a pilot while teaching the next generation

Yahoo

02-04-2025

Late last year, Queen City News and its parent company, Nexstar, launched a campaign to feature remarkable women in our area throughout this month. We asked you to tell us about the remarkable women in your life, and you answered!
CONCORD, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — From the first time she saw people getting on a plane as a child, Brenda Robinson knew she wanted to be involved in aviation.
Brenda recalls, 'All of the marvelous, beautiful people would walk out of the plane and down the stairs, and I thought, oh my God, this is so cool! I wanna be on that airplane because they were traveling all over the place and I thought, that's it!'
But Brenda never saw herself in aviation. She didn't do things like build model planes or make paper airplanes.
'I thought I would run up the stairs and turn right and do my job in the airplane,' she says. 'Never did I realize I would run up the stairs and turn left and do my job, into the cockpit.'
This was the 1960s — the Golden Age of travel. Most women were stewardesses and rarely trained to become pilots.
But not Brenda. She soared into aviation, starting with a career-study program at her Pennsylvania high school, then becoming one of five women to study Aeronautics at Dowling College.
Now, 60 years later, Brenda looks back on her many accolades throughout her flying career.
She became the first African American female pilot in the Navy. She landed on aircraft carriers, carrying mail, cargo and passengers. Brenda participated in the Gulf War and flew admirals and generals from Washington, DC. She later flew for American Airlines for 17 years before retiring.
These days, you can find her teaching at Fly Right, an FAA-approved flight training center in Concord.
Brenda sits with pilots during their training on simulated flights. Then she's in ground school, teaching aircraft systems.
But what Brenda is really passionate about is teaching the younger generation — not just about aviation, but about life.
Paul Meyer nominated Brenda for the Remarkable Women campaign. He works in aviation and first met her while she was holding one of her camps for kids, Aviation Camps of the Carolinas. He was in awe at how well she interacted with the campers.
'The excitement she brings to the kids for a career in aviation, and letting them know that there are so many careers out there…' he says, 'For her to be such a strong role model for these kids — it's amazing.'
Brenda started Aviation Camps of the Carolinas several years ago. It's a one-day action-packed camp for 9-17 year-olds, taking them on a behind-the-scenes tour of all careers in aviation, right on airport property.
Brenda gets them hooked. 'When you can figure out a way to keep a teenager engaged, you have done it — because they're a tough crowd.'
The kids walk away with information about flying, but through various activities, they learn how to be successful in whatever they do.
Brenda believes it takes three things:
#1: 'Either they have to be a genius—and I'm not a genius—so the other thing is they have to work really hard.
#2: 'Everybody needs a mentor. Mentors are there for whatever it is you want them to do. They know the pitfalls, they know you're going to have to go through the pitfalls. They know people.'
#3: 'Everybody needs an advocate. Even if you don't know what the kids are doing, but, 'did you do your math homework, do you understand, do you need a tutor?''
Brenda recalls her parents, especially her dad, as being advocates for her. Now, she wants to pass it on to the future.
She explains, 'I don't push aviation; I just use it as a hook to get them into my camp. Because essentially, they can take and use it for anything in the back of their mind that says, 'What am I gonna do with my life?' Because when you're 13 the world is vast, and you have no idea what you're going to do.'
CONGRATULATIONS TO BRENDA!
Brenda is our final nominee… and this year's local Remarkable Women winner!
We surprised Brenda with a $1,000 donation to her program, Aviation Camps of the Carolinas.
Brenda will now travel to Los Angeles to meet and celebrate with all of the local winners from across the country, where the national Remarkable Women winner will be announced!
Congratulations to Brenda Robinson… the local Remarkable Woman of the Year!
Brenda's Aviation Camps of the Carolinas are scheduled several times throughout the school year during breaks. For more information, go to their website—aviationcamps.org.
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